Kenneth Sentle Rabale, ambassador of Lesotho to China

The year 2023 marks the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the People’s Republic of China and the Kingdom of Lesotho. On this important occasion, Kenneth Sentle Rabale, ambassador of Lesotho to China, shared with ChinAfrica about his views on the development of the bilateral relationship. Edited excerpts of the interview follow.

ChinAfrica: What are the highlights of the development of China-Lesotho bilateral ties during the past four decades? 

Kenneth Sentle Rabale: Our relationship was officially established in April 1983, and the official opening of our embassy in Beijing was done in 1985. Since then, we have had a very good relationship with China, both bilaterally and multilaterally. There are quite a number of things that confirm the strong partnership that we have with China. We’ve got a couple of projects which have been implemented with the support of the Chinese government, such as the Polihali Dam and the Lesotho Parliament Building. We also have the Mafeteng Solar PV Power Plant and the Mpiti-Sehlabathebe Road project, which will be completed this year. 

When China says it will open up to the rest of the world, it is trying to build a community with a shared future. It’s more practical than being on paper. You see tangible things happening with the cooperation various countries in Africa have with China. To me, that is a positive thing in the sense that you would not want to see yourself thriving and surviving while your neighbours or people around you are struggling. China is actually embracing the fact that we want to build a community with a shared future. 

What outcomes have been achieved in medical cooperation and exchanges between the two countries? 

The 17th Chinese medical team composed of nine doctors is going to Lesotho to support us in the health sphere. We are actually in a good discussion with Hubei Province regarding the memorandum of understanding in terms of providing Lesotho with medical experts every year. We expect that additional doctors could support our medical system, because the construction of a new referral hospital in Maseru, the capital of Lesotho, is nearing completion. Patients from various districts will be coming in to get medical assistance as doctors in the districts cannot do some of the things. It definitely needs some other doctors. 

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, China and Lesotho have been supporting each other. China has provided several batches of anti-pandemic materials to Lesotho and sent a team of pandemic experts to Lesotho to share experience in prevention and control. The donation of vaccines from China to Lesotho is another vivid manifestation of the close relationship and the friendship between the two peoples. 

During the Eighth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, China and 53 African countries announced their visions to strengthen cooperation in low-carbon infrastructure projects. How do you see the importance and necessity of China-Lesotho cooperation on climate change? 

That one is the most important part of cooperation that needs to be forged and actually get implemented. We are one of the parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change while there’s a call to reduce carbon emissions all over the world. It is very evident that human activities have affected the ozone layer. 

And that is why we see huge changes in terms of climate change lately. For example, in Lesotho, we used to get our early rains around August and September, and maybe up to February; and then we got less rains to allow for the growth of vegetation. Lately, we got torrential rains and floods. And it becomes either extremely hot or cold. Such severe weather conditions affect agricultural productivity in all aspects. So, our government has joined hands with other countries like China to try to reduce carbon emissions. 

The Fourth China-Africa Video and Photo Competition was launched by ChinAfrica in September last year. By the end of February, participants from China and Africa have submitted more than 2,000 videos and pictures. What do you think of the importance of people-to-people exchanges like this event in deepening mutual understanding between peoples of both countries? 

It’s very important because we need to understand our different cultural backgrounds and setups. While we have close cooperation, we don’t find ourselves stepping on one another’s toes. We can understand each other’s culture and art. All those videos have actually helped the Chinese people to better understand Africa, and vice versa. That helps to build trust and also to forge new ways of cooperation. 

For this year’s King’s Birthday celebration, we intend to have young boys and girls from China participate in our event so that they can better understand our culture. 

What are your expectations for the future development of the China-Lesotho bilateral relationship? 

There are a lot of things to be done, such as expanding exports and imports between the two countries. It is true that we have been given the “green lanes” where we can export agricultural products to China duty free. We need to put that into practice, logistically. All the hitches need to be cleared so that the flow of goods from our country to China can be smooth. At the same time, goods from China should also flow into my country with ease so that the economies of both countries grow simultaneously. 

I arrived in China in last September and I am observing how developed China is. I think Africa needs to look at things differently. We need to step up in terms of engineering. We send our students to study engineering in China. They need to be given time to have experiential learning in some of the factories that are producing things in large quantities. That could also help if some of the factories here are moved into Africa, either for assembly or for making entirely new products.